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julissa12 Asked December 2021

My dad has vascular dementia, is drooling normal?

So my dad started drooling a lot saliva and he has vascular dementia is that normal for them ?

Grandma1954 Dec 2021
My Husband drooled a LOT.
Hospice ordered Atropine (off label use for the eye drops) it helps dry secretions.
There are other meds that can dry secretions. (one OTC med Benadryl will dry you up BUT it makes you sleepy and it gives me a "foggy" brain so I would not use it for my Husband, I figured with dementia his brain was foggy enough)
With the increased drooling start paying close attention to his eating and drinking. He may not be swallowing properly and this can lead to choking, aspiration. What happens is the liquid like saliva is so thin the body does not realize it needs to close the passage to the lungs so fluids can be drawn into the lungs. You may have to begin to thicken thinner fluids.

TChamp Dec 2021
Absolutely. However, drooling is a common sign in many neurological conditions, it's not exclusive of vascular dementia.

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cwillie Dec 2021
Vascular dementia is usually the result of stroke or multiple mini infarcts so there are physical as well as cognitive symptoms. My mom developed a parkinson's like gait and she also did go through a period of drooling (I had forgotten that until your post reminded me).

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